Academic Rigor

I am a current junior attending a very competitive high school in New Jersey. We are not allowed to choose our APs or Honors classes, but we are placed in them if we meet a certain criteria. I don’t want to go too in-depth, but I got unlucky and have been stuck in level 1 (Accelerated) English and History for 3 years (9th, 10th, 11th).

I am just wondering how this affects my admissions for college. I am in the highest level classes for Science, Math, World Language, and Elective (which is AP Comp Sci as of now). I am planning to be a CS major and looking to get into UMD, Purdue, and UMass.

Will I still have a good chance at these schools? (Asian Male if that makes a difference)

You can always take and ace college board’s AP exams or SAT subject tests to show your competence. You don’t need to be in most rigorous classes to take these exams.

Assuming that your grades are excellent, then yes I do think that you still have a good chance at these schools. For CS, your grades and academic rigor in math and physics and AP computer science will matter more than your rigor in English and History classes.

Given that you are from New Jersey, I would also apply to Rutgers. The schools that you mentioned are very good for CS, but Rutgers is definitely also worth considering.

Thank you for the advice! I do plan to take subject tests and APs.

My UW overall is 3.92/4.33 and my W is 5.15/6.33 with an upward trend over the years. SAT is 1470, hoping to go for 1500+ in March. Does this still show competence?

Rutgers is most likely my safety. Everyone gets into Rutgers at my school as long as you have a 1300+ for SAT and a 3.0+ for UW. Around 1000 kids from my school (Over the last 3 years) fit these standards. Of them, only 5 got rejected.

Data you’ve provided tells you you’d have a pretty decent shot at the schools you’ve mentioned, and it sounds as if you have a valid safety.

Your balance of advanced coursework is better for a CS major than the reverse would be., but schools do look at your transcript in totality.

AP tests are valuable for college credit, and Subject Tests can be useful for schools that consider them. Just don’t be under the impression that they carry the same weight as course work.